New PlayStation 5 will secretly launch this year – experts predict

COMING SOON: Experts believe we're on the verge of seeing a new PlayStation 5

We may secretly be getting the PlayStation 5 this year, experts believe.

Industry chiefs have started suspecting the PlayStation VR headset due for 2016 release is far more than just a gimmicky add-on.

And that it's actually a 'soft-launch' for the PS5, a cloud gaming virtual reality super system.

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Sony

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The theory has been growing among industry insiders after a patent for a glove-based controller was also found to quietly mention wider plans for a future cloud-based games system.

Experts believe that online-based system could end up effectively being the PS5, as a successor to the mega popular PS4.

It revolves around the PS VR, or the next version of that headset, becoming a standalone unit.

One that won't need to be connected to the PS4 machine to work.

The glove controller patent reveals plans for a "cloud gaming" module which connects to a network, then to the computer and then to the headset and gloves.

But Sony's patent says that the computer could be a "network device, such as a router", meaning that a person could access games via the cloud direct on the headset and gloves without the need for a new PlayStation console.

In that case, the VR headset and glove combo emerges effectively as a new type of futuristic gaming system without the need for a bulky machine under the telly.

All the processing is done over the cloud instead via the web.

And that means the VR headset we all think is an add-on this year is actually the first part of a multi-piece 'PS5', softly launching in 2016, paving the way for a glove controller down the line and then a revamped online gaming network based in the cloud to eventually complete the jigsaw.

Sony currently has a rudimentary subscription service called PlayStation Now which allows users to stream games on-demand via broadband without owning the disc or downloading a copy of each title.

Experts said that if Sony's patent becomes a reality, the standalone headset and gloves could use a revamped and improved version of PlayStation Now as the cloud platform for users to access new games.

Serkan Toto, chief executive of game industry consultancy Kantan Games, told respected business news site CNBC: "You could argue, why should they establish a competitor to its already existing and well running PlayStation business, especially in the current generation? Sony is clearly winning against its rivals.

"But PlayStation Now is already a competitor to PS4 as it can be used on the PS4, but also on the PS3, PS TV and on a lot of Sony TVs out there.

"They already have two different platforms and ways to entertain people."

Sony

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For the idea to really work PS Now has to emerge as a fully fledged console-like 'PS5' streaming service pushing brand new world-leading VR games instead of old titles from bygone eras.

He added: "The content has to be tailor made for this new device which Sony is apparently looking at.

"The catalog that PlayStation Now has is mostly old titles and not compatible with the power glove device."